


The Situations We Find Ourselves In

by Atherin0305



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Birthdays, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Friendship, Holidays, additional characters will be added as I go, different situations, whatever other senarios I think wold be fun to see them in
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 01:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10583646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atherin0305/pseuds/Atherin0305
Summary: Servamp prompts featuring different holidays, birthdays or any other little short stories and one shots. There may or may not be possible two shots, but most of these are stand alone.





	1. Halloween Party

**Author's Note:**

> Features Mahiru and Kuro

It was the day before the Halloween party that Mahiru had been invited to. His Eve was frantically putting the finishing touches onto his costume. When he had asked Mahiru why he hadn’t just bought a costume already made instead of making one from scratch, his Eve had replied with a, “It’s just simpler if I make it myself!” The immortal didn’t quite understand the logic behind that thought process, but whatever. Mahiru was being kept busy and he was free to play his video games in peace. He was actually quite looking forward to tomorrow night. Mahiru would be gone for the evening (for at least six hours before their annoying bond came into play) and he would have free reign of the house. It was going to be nice and _peaceful_ for once. No vacuuming, no cleaning, no arguments, and, most importantly, no nagging Eve. So yes, Kuro could say that he was looking forward to the Halloween party as much as Mahiru was.

A triumphant cry from the living room alerted Kuro that Mahiru had finished his costume. He saved and shut off the game that he had been playing before stretching out fully and then sank onto his bed in a boneless content mess as he sprawled out. He just laid there for a few minutes before he started to count down. _‘Three…two…one…’_

“Kuro!”

The immortal sighed tiredly but didn’t get up. His bed was much more important than what Mahiru had to show him. Besides, he’d see the costume tomorrow anyways.

  
“Kuro!!”

  
The vampire could actually hear the aggravation in Mahiru’s voice this time. He weighed the option of just ignoring him again and hoping that he got the hint but eventually nixed that idea. Mahiru could, and would, come barging in, flick on the lights (and temporarily blind him in the process) before starting on his spiel about not ignoring people. Sighing tiredly again, the immortal rolled off the bed and stretched out again. Tomorrow night couldn’t come fast enough for him. He could feel Mahiru’s irritation flit over their bond slightly, so he knew that he had to get moving. He slowly meandered his way out of his room, down the hallway and eventually into the living room with a “can’t deal” under his breath.

  
As he suspected, Mahiru looked about ready to burst, but upon seeing him enter the living room, his Eve calmed down slightly. He still received an irritated glare and scowl, but Mahiru didn’t lay into him for ignoring him the first time he had called for him. His Eve’s annoyed expression was soon lifted as he proudly presented his costume to him.  


“What do you think, Kuro? Pretty cool, right?” he asked as the Eve pointed to a well-made costume that was hanging up on a mannequin. (Kuro didn’t even want to know where the hell Mahiru had managed to get it from, nor did he care).  


The vampire glanced over it. The costume itself was pretty simple in design, but it still had that feeling of being a complex piece. Honestly, it reminded Kuro of one of those steampunk-medieval suits that he sometimes saw when passing by conventions. It came complete with a wide-brimmed hat that had a black feather sticking out from the leather band that had been wrapped around it. It also had an assortment of fake weapons and other little gadgets along the belts. Just before his gaze went back to Mahiru he saw something that made him pause and take a second look. Was that…  


He looked back to Mahiru and one of his eyebrows quirked up. “…a wooden stake?” he questioned as some amusement filtered into his usually dry tone.  


Mahiru gave him a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his neck slightly. “It makes sense,” he tried to defend half-heartedly.  


“Whatever, Mahiru,” the immortal replied. “Looks good, though,” he finished, knowing that Mahiru had wanted his opinion.  


His Eve beamed at the praise. “Thanks Kuro! I’m glad that you like it!”  


“Well, my job here is done…” the vampire said before turning to return to his room.  


“W-Wait! I’m not done with you yet!”  


Kuro’s posture slouched slightly when Mahiru said that. He turned back around to face his Eve and a feeling of dread started to creep into his chest. “What now?” he questioned, putting in as little effort as possible to hide the weariness in his tone.  


Mahiru grabbed his wrist and pulled him further into the living room. “I need you to stand on the foot stool for a moment so I can take your measurements,” was the reply that he got.  


It took but a moment for Mahiru’s words to sink in and he abruptly stopped. Nope. There was no way in hell that he was going to play along with this. Mahiru gave a small yelp of surprise when he suddenly couldn’t move the vampire. He turned to face the Servamp again. “Oh come on, Kuro! It’ll be fun! There’ll be music, dancing, games and food!” he tried to persuade.  


“What you meant to say is that it’ll be loud, over crowded, and have nothing but sweets to eat so that you’ll be sick the next day,” Kuro countered. His plans to have a nice, peaceful and relaxing evening were rapidly unraveling. He did not want to go to some Halloween party full of high school students that he would have to interact with. Mahiru was a social butterfly, and Kuro knew that he would easily drift from one group of friends to another, leaving him to try and find someplace to hide until the party ended. If he wasn’t going to socialize, he would much rather just say at home and enjoy himself.  


“Come on, Kuro. Please?”  


“Don’t wanna. It’s a pain…”  


“Ugh! You’re the one being a pain! Come on! It won’t be that bad!”  


“Meh. I beg to differ on that.”  


“But I want you to come with me, Kuro! We don’t get many chances to just hang out and have fun. We’re always busy doing something.”  


“And whose fault is that?” Kuro asked back. Mahiru was always worried or busy doing something. “Besides, if you wanted me to come so badly, why didn’t you just make a witch costume? Then I could have been your cute little black cat~”  


Mahiru rolled his eyes at him. “I wanted you to come in human form, so we can actually talk!”  


The immortal sighed tiredly. “You’re not gonna let up on this, are you?”  


Mahiru just gave him a look that plainly said “What do you think?” before tugging on his arm again to get him to move. The vampire sighed before finally allowing Mahiru to drag him over to the foot stool. A mild glare saw him finally standing up on it so then Mahiru could take his measurements.  


“So… What are you going to dress me up as? Myself?” the immortal asked.  


Mahiru snorted slightly, “You mean as a NEET? No, I’ve got something else in mind,” he replied.  


Kuro sighed heavily again, “So long as it’s nothing embarrassing…”  


“Don’t worry. I think you’ll like it,” the Eve reassured with a smile.  


“Ugh…wish I were dead,” the immortal complained, earning himself a light smack from his Eve.  


In no time at all, Mahiru had his measurements and was quickly trying to shove him out of the living room. When he asked why, Mahiru replied that he wanted it to be a surprise before the Eve successfully managed to shove him down the darkened hallway.  


“You’ll get to see it tomorrow!” his Eve said cheerfully before hurrying to pull the curtains open. It was late afternoon so the sun was still out, causing the immortal to shy away from the sun soaked living room and seek shelter in his bedroom. The sun may not be able to kill him, but he did not fancy turning into a cat right now. With nothing left for him to do, Kuro stole back into his bedroom and flopped down onto his bed. Maybe this was all just a bad dream, and when he woke up again none of this had actually happened. With that thought in mind he felt his mind become heavy and clouded with sleep. It wasn’t long after that that his eyes closed as slumber finally claimed him once again.  


-Time Skip- 

There was an incessant pounding on his door in what felt like no time at all. Ugh…couldn’t Mahiru give him just five more minutes…?  


“Kuro! Wake up! It’s time for breakfast!”  


The immortal blinked lethargically at that. Breakfast? Already? Had his Eve really let him sleep the day away? There was more pounding on his door when he didn’t respond. “Kuro! Come on!”  


Still surprised that Mahiru had actually let him sleep the entire day away yesterday did Kuro finally get up. Yawning tiredly, he went over to his door to open it before Mahiru took it upon himself to do so for him.  


“Morning Sleeping Beauty,” was Mahiru’s greeting when he opened the door.  


Ignoring the jibe at his sleeping habits (he couldn’t help that he was the Sin of Sloth, after all), Kuro murmured something that vaguely sounded like “good morning” back. Yawning again as he rubbed the sleep out of his eye did he turn to face his Eve. “…what’d I do to deserve such a nice, long nap?” he questioned.  


Mahiru rolled his eyes when he heard Kuro call the day long sleep he had as nothing more than a nap. “I needed you out of the way. When I went to wake you up last night for dinner, you just looked too peaceful to disturb, so I left you alone,” the Eve shrugged slightly.  


“Well…next time you need me out of the way, please let me know. I’ll be more than happy to oblige~”  


The young Eve chuckled at his response before moving out of the way so Kuro could exit his room. “The party doesn’t start until six this evening, so we have time to get ready. Thank goodness it’s overcast today. I don’t know how Halloween make-up would have transferred to your cat form,” Mahiru prattled on as he set breakfast down in front of them.  


Kuro glanced up from his breakfast when he heard that. “Make-up?” he questioned as he frowned slightly. “That sounds rather bothersome…”  


“Too bad, Kuro! Luckily your costume doesn’t need a lot of make-up to go with it. So, thinking simply, I should do yours first before starting on mine,” Mahiru replied.  


The vampire sighed but didn’t comment. He turned back to his breakfast when Mahiru spoke up again. “Hey Kuro, are you able to wear contacts?” he questioned curiously.  


“Ha? Contacts? Why do I need to wear contacts?” he asked in confusion. Halloween was the one time during the year when his red eyes didn’t garner much attention. Why would he want to cover them?  


“Because they’ll pull your costume together!” was his Eve’s reply.  


“Contacts sound like such a pain to put in. Do I have to wear them?”  


“I would like for you to, but I won’t force you to wear them if you find them uncomfortable,” Mahiru replied.  


With the matter settled they both went back to eating breakfast, though Kuro had flicked on the news to watch. He slumped over onto the table, being mindful of his plate of food, as he waited for the day’s horoscopes to come up. He wanted to know just how troublesome Mahiru was going to be today! As he waited though, a thought came to him. “Mahiru…how are you going to introduce me to your friends?” he suddenly asked. The startled look he got from his Eve told the immortal that Mahiru hadn’t thought that far ahead. He lifted himself up off the table slightly to look at his Eve. “They do know that you’re brining someone, right?”  


“O-Of course they do! I just…never told Ryuusei or Koyuki who would be coming with me, but I did make sure that it was okay for me to bring someone!”  


Kuro sighed heavily, “This is going to be a pain…” he groaned as he realized that Mahiru had no kind of cover story for how they knew each other.  


“Don’t worry, Kuro! Everything will work out!” Mahiru said, trying to inject his voice with confidence that he certainly didn’t feel. Judging from the unimpressed look that he got from Kuro, he was failing miserably.  


While Kuro knew that he could manipulate the memories of Mahiru’s friends and classmates, he certainly didn’t want to. It was just too much effort… And it would upset his Eve. He didn’t want to hear his nagging about the dubious means that he had employed to keep them from being caught. (At least that’s what he liked to tell himself. It had nothing to do with the fact that he didn’t want Mahiru to be disappointed in him.) He couldn’t only hope that things worked out.  


-Time Skip- 

It was nearing 4pm when Kuro heard Mahiru calling for him again. He had, once again, retreated to the safety of his room when he saw his Eve get up to open the curtains for a while. While it certainly overcast, it was still much to bright for Kuro’s tastes. Not wanting to put his Eve into a foul mood with him when he was going to be painting his face, did the immortal get out of bed and head toward the living room. Mahiru was waiting for him with a huge smile on his face. His Eve was holding two costumes, which were stored in large costume bags, so he still couldn’t see just what Mahiru was going to be forcing him to wear.  


“Here Kuro, this one’s yours. Go try it on. I wanna make sure everything fits,” Mahiru said as he held out one of the bags to him. Sighing in resignation, Kuro took the one being offered to him before back tracking to his room to change. Mahiru followed after him, presumably to do the same in his own room.  


Once back in the safety of his room did the immortal unzip the bag that held his costume and was finally able to see it. When he finally pulled it out he couldn’t help but to stare at it. What? Did Mahiru…? Wanting to double check he opened his door and stuck his head out and called for Mahiru. “Hey…Mahiru… I think you gave me the wrong costume.”  


The vampire heard a muffled reply from behind his Eve’s door. “Huh? No, no! You have the right one! Hurry and get it on already!”  


Kuro sighed before retreating back into his room again. He looked at the costume once more before finally giving in and to put it on. He placed it on his bed before undressing and then redressing in the costume. Thankfully, he had no troubles getting into it, finding that it fit him rather well. Once he had finished adjusting the costume he went back out and towards the living room, seeing as how Mahiru’s door was already opened as his Eve wasn’t inside. Mahiru was already waiting for him out in the living room and he was still wearing that huge grin on his face.  


“Looks good, Kuro!”  


The immortal sighed before taking in Mahiru’s costume. It wasn’t too different from what he was wearing, actually, but the colors were darker and it had a cape that hung from Mahiru’s shoulders. In all honesty, it reminded Kuro of something that Old Child would wear.  


…  


“Really, Mahiru?” he asked as he gave his Eve a flat look.  


“Heehee! I thought that it was a good idea!”  


Kuro sighed loudly, “Shouldn’t these roles be…I dunno…reversed?”  


Mahiru rolled his eyes at him. “You’re _always_ a vampire, Kuro. I just thought that you’d like to be something else for the night.”  


Kuro couldn’t help the small, barely noticeable smile that graced his lips when he heard Mahiru say that before it vanished again. Mahiru had seen it, however, and that made him feel like he had made the right decision when he had decided on costumes. “…thanks, Mahiru…” he replied softly. “…but…a vampire hunter? Really?” he questioned.  


Mahiru smiled at him again before replying, “There’s going to be a costume contest. Thinking simply, we’re partners, so it only makes sense to have our costumes go together.” Kuro couldn’t really argue with that simple logic, so he let it go. “Here,” Mahiru said as he handed Kuro some colored contacts. “Put those in if you can, and then I’ll do your make-up,” he said as he shooed the vampire back down the hall.  


Having little choice in the matter, did Kuro go to do what his Eve asked of him. Once he was in the bathroom did he look at the contacts that he had been given before he glanced up at his reflection. His cat form was looking back at him, which caused a bit of a problem, but… He glanced at the contacts again. It was okay for him to pretend that he wasn’t a monster for one night…right? The immortal couldn’t help the low chuckle that escaped him when he thought about it. While everyone else dressed up _**to be**_ monsters, here he was dressing up to be human. One night wouldn’t hurt. He could pretend to be human again for one night…  


He picked up one of the contacts on the tip of his index finger before looking up to his reflection again. It had shifted, showing him his shadowy outline with glaring red eyes that were gazing at him sleepily, reminding him that he could not hide, no matter what he tried to do. The immortal steeled his resolve before finally putting the contacts in. They felt strange and foreign in his eyes as they watered slightly, but he was soon used to the sensation. He blinked his eyes back open, unaware that he had closed them in the first place, and stared wide-eyed at his reflection.  


His eyes were blue. He could see his face, his hair, his torso. Sure, his outline flickered ever so slightly around the edges, indicating the “costume” he was wearing, but just the fact that he looked human again was enough. He would definitely have to find a way to thank his Eve for this.  


“Kuro! Everything going okay?”  


It was hard, but Kuro tore his gaze away from the human face that he hadn’t seen in centuries to reply to Mahiru. “Yeah, I’m fine, Mahiru. Just took a moment to get the contacts in,” he replied as he opened the door, letting his Eve see that he really was all right.  


“Whoa! You look…really different without the red eyes!”  


Kuro swallowed slightly before glancing at his reflection once more. “…I look human again…” he whispered softly, unaware that Mahiru had heard him and had followed his gaze towards the mirror. The young Eve almost did a double take when he saw Kuro’s reflection, but before he could comment on it, the vampire stepped out of the bathroom. “It’s all yours, Mahiru. I saw that you have contacts too.” The Eve nodded and decided not to bring what he saw in the mirror up. Kuro’s words were enough.  


-Time Skip-

It wasn’t long before the two were making their way to Ryuusei’s house where the party was being held. Kuro had been amused when Mahiru had returned to the living room with his own contacts, a red that mimicked Kuro’s usual blood colored eyes, and fangs that were quite convincing if the vampire hadn’t of known that they were fake. Make-up was applied and their costume accessories were added before they had left the apartment.  


Mahiru couldn’t help but to smile whenever he glanced over to his partner. The vampire looked relaxed, happy even. He may not be smiling, but Mahiru could see a small spark of something in his eyes that he had never seen before. He had been slightly afraid that Kuro would out right reject his idea about coming with him to this party. He was glad that he had managed to convince him to attend, even if he had complained and whined in the beginning. As Ryuusei’s house came into view their earlier conversation about introductions came to the forefront of Mahiru’s mind.  


“Hey,” Mahiru started off, “What’s your name?”  


The immortal glanced at him for a moment before his gaze lifted skyward. “Kuro.”  


Mahiru blinked at his response before smiling widely. “Kuro,” he agreed. They were sure to get some questions about it, but there was no way that he’d change Kuro’s name, even if the immortal were to have replied with something different. Kuro was Kuro, and that was all that mattered. They were here to have fun and to enjoy themselves.  


Judging from the small smile on Kuro’s face as he held onto his bell, Mahiru knew that he was already enjoying himself.  


This was one Halloween that neither would be forgetting.


	2. Hugh's Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Features Hugh, Tetsu, Mahiru, Kuro, Misono, Snow Lily, Mikuni, Jeje, Licht and Hyde

Everyone was gathering at the Shiranoba Hot Springs. Tetsu had invited all of Hugh’s siblings and their Eves over for a surprise birthday party for Hugh. Well…it had _meant_ to be a surprise, but Hugh had easily managed to get it out of Tetsu soon after the blond Eve had finished calling everyone. It was because of this that Hugh was giving the orders to make sure that everything was up to snuff for _his_ party.

“A true vampire only has black and red streamers hanging!” the smallest Servamp declared proudly from atop his Eve’s shoulders as Tetsu started to hang said streamers from the ceiling. “You! Oaf!” Hugh suddenly shouted at Mahiru while pointing his pipe at him. Mahiru’s expression grew irritated and he tried in vain to explain that his name was Mahiru.

“It’s Mahiru! Mahiru!” the frustrated Eve shouted back.

From over by the table where the Servamp of Sloth was lazily stacking the presents, Kuro spoke up, “Just call him ‘Mahi Mahi’, Old Child,” he called over sleepily.

Mahiru rounded on him in an instant, “Don’t call me that!”

“An excellent idea, Sleepy Ash! You! Mahi Mahi! Make sure to make the cake extra chocolate-y! And top it with some nice, juicy blood!”

“I’m not putting blood on the cake! We humans would like to eat it too!”

“Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll put some blood on your piece. How’s that?” Tetsu asked as he continued hanging up the streamers where Hugh told him to.

“A fine idea, my good man! A true Eve takes care of his Servamp’s needs!” Hugh exclaimed proudly. Mahiru could be heard groaning in exasperation in the background as he left to go and make Hugh’s birthday cake. He had just missed the Lust pair as the two entered the large area where the party was being held.

“My, my~ I thought that this was going to be a surprise party?” Lily asked as he walked further into the room. “Hello brother~ It’s so nice to see you again,” he said as he handed over the gifts that he and Misono had brought over to be stacked up on the table.

The Servamp of Sloth yawned tiredly, “Likewise…” he replied as he lazily shoved the two gifts into the pile of presents.

“Ah! All of Love! So good of you to come!” Hugh announced as he bounded over to where his brothers were.

“Well of course! I wouldn’t miss your birthday party for the world! Shall I bare my chest for you as this party gets started~?” The Servamp of Lust asked as he started to slip his shirt off.

Misono could be heard yelling from the other side of the room, “Don’t strip!” while Kuro muttered a “can’t deal” under his breath. Lily chuckled at their antics before speaking to Hugh again. “Are any of the others coming? It would be so nice for all of us siblings to come together to celebrate.”

“Wrath and Gluttony won’t be able to attend my marvelous party. Things have come up with their Eves, so they are needed elsewhere. They did send birthday wishes and some lovely gifts. Doubt Doubt replied that he would come as soon as he lost the creepy doll man, as if I’d let that horrible man anywhere near my birthday party!” he exclaimed. “I doubt that Lawless will come. He didn’t reply to my message,” Hugh finished with a pout.

“That’s too bad. I was hoping for the whole family to get together for this special day. Ah well, I’ll just have to go all out for you to make up for our missing siblings~” Lily suggested with a flirty wink.

“You are as lovely as ever, my dear~! To think, that I would end up having such an adorable and thoughtful younger brother~!”

“Tee hee! Flattery will get you everywhere~!”

“…someone just shoot me now…”

While the Servamp brothers chatted and caught up, the Eves had slowly started to gather on the other side of the room. It was nice seeing their Servamps relaxing and having some brotherly bonding time.

“Sendagaya, what are you doing?”

“Oh, shorty, I’m just hanging up streamers. Hugh wanted them, so I went and got him some.”

“Streamers? What are these ‘streamers’? What purpose do they serve?”

“Huh? They’re…streamers? You know…for decoration?”

“W-Well I knew that! I was just seeing if you knew the answer!” Misono defended when he saw Tetsu’s confused look. “B-By the way, where is Shirota? I see his lazy Servamp, but I haven’t seen him.”

“Big bro Mahiru is in the kitchen making Hugh’s cake,” Tetsu replied as he went back to hanging up streamers.

“I-I see…”

“Oh! Shorty!” Tetsu suddenly called, making Misono yell at him that he should be called a ‘big brother’ too, but Tetsu ignored him. “If you want to help, you can start setting up some of the games. Hugh picked them out, but we haven’t had time yet to set them up.”

Misono drew himself up to his fullest height (which still wasn’t very tall or noticeable to Tetsu) before declaring, “Just you wait, simpleton! I’ll have those games set up before you even know it!” And with that, the shortest Eve went over to the area where all sorts of children’s birthday games were scattered around and tried his best to figure out how each game was meant to be set up.

Misono was just on the edge of having a mental breakdown when a new voice spoke up, “Misono? You and Lily got here pretty early! Are you setting up the games, then? That’s a big help! But thinking simply, the two of us working together should get this done quicker.”

“Shirota?! Where did you come from, you bastard!”

Mahiru gave him an unimpressed look as he started to help set up the games anyways. “The cake is baking now, so I’m not needed in the kitchen for a while,” he replied. Misono accepted that answer before he started to direct Mahiru on where to put all of the games. Let it not be said that Misono didn’t help. He was much better at strategically placing things than heavy lifting, after all. It didn’t take long for all of the games to be set out and soon Mahiru was running back to the kitchen while Misono took a breather. Directing people on how to move things was rather draining!

The Servamp brothers were still gossiping over on their side of the room. Well, Hugh and Lily were gossiping while Kuro was doing his best to ignore the conversation that was going on around him as he sat on the ground and played some sort of game. Try as he might though, his two younger siblings were still including him in their conversation and as the eldest, he was obliged to at least reply to them, even if it was half-hearted and unenthusiastic at best.

Mahiru had rejoined the others now that the cake was out and cooling, and like always his gaze sought out Kuro first before glancing over to the other occupants of the room. When he saw that his lazy Servamp was doing just fine he relaxed before deciding to head over to Tetsu to see if there was anything else that he could do to help out. He had just started to take a step in that direction when he jolted slightly as a small chill ran up his spine.

“…Where…shall I place…Hugh nii-san’s gift…?” a quiet voice asked from right behind Mahiru.

The brown haired Eve sent the Servamp of Envy a nervous smile before pointing to Kuro and answered with, “Give it to Kuro. I’ve put that lazy cat in charge of gifts.”

Jeje nodded slightly before he seemingly glided over to where the rest of his brothers were. When he was before his oldest brother he extended the gift he had brought out, to which Kuro sighed in exhaustion before taking it. Knowing what was probably inside, Kuro at least made sure to be gentle with it as he set it off to the side. The slightly relaxed stance that Jeje took after that told Sloth that he had guessed right.

“Doubt Doubt my good man! I am pleased that you were able to attend and that the creepy doll man did not follow!”

“…Mikuni…was upset that…he was not…invited…”

“Hmph! I still don’t trust that man. He’d likely ruin my party! He and the tiny tot still don’t get along, right?”

“Well… I think…Mikuni just wanted…to use this party…as an excuse to…be able to see Misono…again…” Jeje whispered before he finished in a mumble. Hugh gave that statement some thought. He was glad that most of his family were coming to his party. They all had their differences, yes, but they were still his family, and he did love all of his siblings.

“…you’re about to suggest something really exhausting, aren’t you?”

“Heehee~ I don’t know how Misono will react, but I will do my best to keep him calm~”

“…Mikuni…promised to be…on his best behavior…”

“A true vampire does not keep family from each other! Doubt Doubt, you may tell your Eve that he is welcome to attend my party,” Hugh declared, catching the attention of the Eves. They may not have been able to hear what had been said, but the expressions on their Servamps were enough to alert them that something had happened.

“Why… Why do I get the feeling that whatever it was that Hugh had just decided on is going to be bad?” Mahiru asked as he saw Kuro slump back onto the ground, clearly annoyed with whatever he had heard.

“Because, Shirota, anything that makes Lily look that happy and excited is bound to be bad,” Misono replied as he observed how Lily literally sparkled in glee.

“I’m sure that it’ll be fine. I trust Hugh’s judgement.” Tetsu chimed in. The other two Eves gave Tetsu looks of either uncertain optimism or annoyance before all three noticed that Jeje was leaving.

“Guess he couldn’t stay for long then…” Mahiru said mostly to himself.

Misono turned away from the door before harrumphing in annoyance. “I bet that no good brother of mine ordered him to leave after he dropped off his gift.” Mahiru was about to respond to that when he suddenly stopped and stared wide-eyed behind Misono.

“Oh…? Guess this is what Hugh and them were talking about,” Tetsu said quietly as he too watched the scene that was going on, on the other side of the room.

“What are you talking about Senda—“

“Misono~” a familiar voice floated over to where the three current Eves were gathered. That had Misono quickly turning around to see his older brother Mikuni as he practically skipped over to where the Servamps were with Jeje trailing after him. They watched as the blond haired man held out a gift for Kuro to take before he spoke with Hugh about something. Hugh responded to him before clearly dismissing him with a wave of his pipe. It was then that Mikuni started heading towards them as he waved back to his Servamp. “Have fun Jeje~” they heard him call back as he got closer.

Misono was staring at Mikuni in shock, unable to move while Tetsu remained unaffected by this turn of events. Mahiru was the only one who had a feeling of dread settle in his chest as his gaze sought out Kuro’s. The vampire didn’t take long to sense his gaze and looked back at him. The tired look that he received soon changed to relief before a glint of mischievousness entered Kuro’s red orbs. The small, barely noticeable smirk and unenthusiastic wave he sent his Eve clearly said _‘Thank God he is your problem now.’_ The Eve of Sloth fumed silently at that look. Hugh had wanted time alone with his siblings to talk and catch up without the Eves nearby. So, they were now stuck with Mikuni-san for a while. This party had just gone to a whole new level of complicated.

Kuro glanced back to his siblings after he saw Mahiru’s glare at him. “…think they’ll be okay?” he asked tiredly.

“Heehee~ I’m sure that Misono will be just fine~ Mahiru-kun and Tetsu-kun will keep him in check.”

“…Mikuni…won’t risking being…asked to leave… …He’ll behave…”

“Yes, well, I may not care for his attitude, but I simply cannot abide keeping siblings apart.”

“…and us? When you told me that you had invited all of our siblings…I’m assuming that you meant _all_ of us,” Kuro asked as he glanced up from his game to look at Old Child.

Hugh sighed, “Yes, I did invite Tsubaki… He never responded to my mail.”

“Ah… Well…I don’t think he would have come anyways,” the eldest Servamp replied as he went back to his game.

“I don’t think our Eves would have been able to handle it if he were to have come,” Lily chimed in.

“…there’d have been fighting…and bloodshed…” Jeje mumbled.

“Quite. It’s a moot point now though,” Lily replied.

“Enough of this depressing topic! We’re here to celebrate me! Now! I demand for my brothers to have fun!” Hugh exclaimed as his childish personality shone through again. Glancing over to the Eves again showed that things seemed to be all right over there. They hadn’t heard any shouting yet, so that was good! Mahiru must have escaped back to the kitchen though, because the Servamps could only see Tetsu and the two Arisuin brothers. Mikuni was clearly trying to engage in conversation with his younger brother, but Misono was ignoring him, leaving it up to Tetsu to reply to the strange antique dealer’s inquiries. The four Servamps were going to stay well out of it.

Before long though, Mahiru was announcing that the cake was finished and that it was time to start the birthday celebration. However, this announcement saw a new complication arise; seating arrangements. Hugh, obviously, had first on where he would like to sit at the round table that the room held, and Tetsu would get to choose next. It was everyone else that was going to be fighting on where to be seated. The three other Servamps picked up on that face before their Eves as Mahiru was trying to keep Hugh from sampling the chocolate frosting. The three brothers glanced at each other briefly and all came to the same realization; _‘Stick together!’_ Before they could move, however, a loud crash sounded from behind them, causing everyone to turn around and look to see what had caused the crash.

“…seriously…someone just go ahead and shoot me now…”

“Nii-san-tachi~! Don’t start without us!”

“Shut up you damned rat. It’s your fault that we’re late in the first place.”

Hugh stood up on the table to be able to better see and address his younger brother, “Lawless! I didn’t think that you and your Eve would be attending my wonderful party! You never replied!” he said a bit accusingly.

“Haha~ Sorry nii-san~ I wanted it to be a surprise~”

“Che, move, you demon,” Licht scowled as he roughly pushed past his Servamp and sent Hyde crashing to the floor again.

“Ow! Licht-tan! That hurt!” Hyde whined as he sat back up and rubbed at his shoulder.

Licht ignored him as he walked over to where Mahiru was. They may have been gathered to celebrate the child-demon, but chances are Mahiru was the one that had organized the party. “Here,” he simply said as he handed over the gifts that Hyde had insisted that they bring.

“Huh? Oh, give these to Kuro. I’ve put him in charge of gifts,” Mahiru replied nervously. Licht was still rather intense to deal with, even if they did know him and Hyde better now.

Licht’s eyes lit up slightly at that and he quickly went over to where the Servamp of Sloth was. “Here, neko-san.” He said while again handing over the gifts. Kuro sighed in resignation, but took the gifts regardless to put over with all of the others.

“Oh yeah! Licht, Hyde! You guys came at just the right time! We were just about to sit down to eat cake,” Mahiru said with a wide smile. This instantly brought about responses from the Greed pair. “Oh! I wanna sit next to Kuro nii-san!” Hyde said enthusiastically while at the same time Licht replied with an “I’m sitting next to neko-san, you damned rat!” This caused the rest of the Eves and Servamps to realize that it was going to be a ‘first come first served’ situation with seats, and everyone started to scramble to quickly find someplace to sit. Of course, that also caused a bunch of childish fighting so it was left to Mahiru to sort it out. Licht and Hyde’s yelling about sitting next to him had alerted Kuro to his impending doom, and he was quickly making his way back to the table.

“Everyone, quiet! Hugh gets first choice of where he would like to sit, followed by Tetsu,” Mahiru ordered. Knowing that pissing off the Eve of Sloth was a bad thing to do, everyone complied with quieting down and letting Hugh and then Tetsu choose their seats. Mahiru’s grin turned into a smirk as he quickly pointed out where everyone else would be sitting. If he had to deal with Mikuni-san, then Kuro could deal with Licht and Hyde.

“Nii-san~! Hurry up! You move so slowly!” Hyde called as he waved Kuro over to the empty chair that was in between him and Licht. Sloth’s shoulders slumped before he made his way over to the empty chair. The cheerful smile and wave that Mahiru sent him from across the table told him that this was payback for Mikuni.

“Now that we’re all seated, it’s time to light the candles and sing!” Hugh said proudly. While Tetsu lit the few candles and everyone else started singing the traditional birthday song, the Servamp of Pride couldn’t help but to swell up with pride as he looked over his family. Tetsu was to his left, lighting candles and singing along with everyone else. The light in his eyes told the Servamp that he was quite happy with how the party had turned out. Mahi Mahi was next, with a large smile plastered on his face. Like always, the energetic Eve was right at home with celebrating something as simple as a birthday with his friends. Next to him was the doll man, and while he didn’t particularly care for him, he was Doubt Doubt’s Eve. Following him was All of Love, looking just as happy as he felt with most of their family gathered. Doubt Doubt was next, and though he was quiet, Hugh could hear his soft voice singing along too. He sounded happy to have been included with the festivities. The tiny tot sat next to Doubt Doubt, looking as awkward as always in these group settings that did not deal with strategies, the poor sheltered lad. Next to him was Lawless’ eccentric Eve. He certainly kept things entreating, as well as made sure to keep Lawless from becoming too overbearing. Next to the self-proclaimed angel was his only older brother, Sleepy Ash, looking, and sounding, like he’d rather be anywhere else than where he currently was. Though, Hugh could see the small smile on his face, even if no one else seemed to have seen it. Lastly, sitting next to him on his right was Lawless, looking more like the younger brother that he used to know instead of the broken shell that he had become. The song ended and he was being asked to make a wish before blowing out the candles. Closing his eyes, Hugh took a moment before he finally found the words that he was looking for. Opening his eyes the Servamp of Pride took a deep breath before blowing out the candles, causing a small cheer that went around the table. Tetsu then went and sliced pieces of cake for everyone, and it wasn’t long before they were enjoying the rich chocolate cake that Mahiru had made. As everyone started eating, conversation soon started to flow around the table. This was something that Old Child had missed.

The cake was soon devoured and talk of games were starting to crop up. It had already been decided beforehand that gifts would be saved for last. For now though, it was time for some fun and games. There were a variety that Hugh had chosen, and since there were so many of them, it was sure to be loud and fun. And Hugh was right. He and his siblings and their Eves had a blast playing all of the games. Mostly though, Hugh enjoyed the way that his siblings were interacting with each other again. Even the reluctant Sleepy Ash was participating (though it was half-hearted and he was only doing so, so then Lawless and Mahiru would leave him alone. The smile in his eyes though, betrayed him to Hugh that he was enjoying the interactions as well). Seeing his siblings again was definitely the best birthday present that he could have asked for. He was proud of his family, but he hoped that his birthday wish came true by next year. He wanted to have all of his family here to celebrate next year.

The game soon came to an end, and now it was time to open gifts. There were an array of shapes and sizes, so the small statured vampire was excited to see what he would get. Tetsu had already given him his present that morning, and he had proudly been wearing the next cufflinks with the little bat motif all day. The Lust pair were the first to hand over their gifts. Lily’s gift had been a marvelous set of romance novels that he had been eyeing, while the tiny tot’s gift had been some very chic clothes that were exactly to his tastes – vampire-esque. “Two exemplary gifts! Just as true vampires and Eves should give!”

“Heehee~ I’m glad that you enjoyed our gifts, nii-san. I made sure to go all out for you~ <3” Lily replied, already half stripped before Misono caught on to what he was doing and elbowed his Servamp in the side.

“Don’t strip!” he yelled before replying to Hugh. “Yes well…Lily said that you would like clothing like that, so I had our tailors make some of the finest vampire garbs possible,” he boasted.

“Misono~ This isn’t a competition~” Mikuni called as he and Jeje went next. Misono did his best to just ignore his brother as he and Lily took their seats again.

“…for you…Hugh nii-san…” Jeje murmured as he handed over a small, delicately wrapped box.

Hugh took it eagerly, already knowing what was inside, but excited to receive another one regardless. “Thank you, Doubt Doubt. It has been some time since I have received one of your ships in a bottle. I treasure each and every one of them,” he said proudly. His smile widened when he heard his younger brother’s happy hum as he moved away and his Eve stepped forward.

“I know that we haven’t always gotten along in the past, but Abel and I wanted our gift to be something of a peace offering,” Mikuni said as he handed the skeptical Servamp of Pride his parcel.

Hugh tore the wrappings off, revealing a thick, black leather bound book with no title. Curiosity piqued, he cracked the cover open only to read the title _‘The Inner Workings of the Organization Known as C3’_ before he quickly slammed the book shut. “Consider your peace offering accepted! Welcome aboard my good man!”

“Ahahahaha~ Abel and I are glad to hear that~ Isn’t that right, Abel~?” Mikuni laughed as he too went back to where he had been siting. Everyone else was insanely curious about the book, but Hugh was already eagerly awaiting his next gifts.

“Move out of the way, you damned rat. An angel’s gift is far more pure than anything a demon like you could give,” the self-proclaimed angel stated as he kicked Hyde from behind so that the Servamp was slammed right into the ground face first.

“Angel-chan! He’s my brother! I should give him my gift first!”

“Shut up, demon,” Licht responded before handing Hugh the gift he had brought. Hugh just watched their antics in amusement as he accepted the gift. Licht had been good for his younger brother. Lawless had needed someone who would not let Lawless’ brash personality run all over them. The angel was more than a match when it came to personalities. He would not bow down to anyone, least of all to Lawless.

Without further ado, Hugh childishly ripped off the paper to reveal a cuddly plush toy that resembled the bat form that he so often took. It even had a cape and its own little monocle! “Wonderful! A truly magnificent gift~!”

The small, pleased smile was only on Licht’s face for an instant before his usual scowl took its place when Hyde shoved his way forward. “Nii-san! Forget about the lame gift that Angel-chan gave you! My gift is far better than some toy that Angel Cakes got you!” Lawless proclaimed as he handed over an envelope right as Licht crashed into him with a round house kick. “Ow! Jeez Licht-tan! Why are you so violent?!”

Before the fight could escalate any further Mahiru went to separate them. “H-Hey! Calm down Licht! Hugh likes what you got him, so don’t let Hyde get to you!” he tried to calm the pianist down. When that didn’t seem to work he shoved Kuro over to Licht with an order of ‘transform’ in his eyes. With no energy to argue, Kuro did as his Eve was silently asking of him and transformed into his cat form. It didn’t take Licht long to notice this and scoop him up to start to cuddle with him. The angel’s anger vanished as he cooed over Kuro’s kitten form, causing Hyde to pout at the attention that his brother was getting. A steely glare from Sloth’s Eve had him behaving though…for now…because he didn’t want to disrupt Hugh nii-san’s party anymore. Crisis averted, Mahiru gave the go ahead to an amused Hugh to continue with opening Hyde’s gift.

Thankfully, everyone here was already used to the Greed pair’s antics, and so Hugh was able to open the envelope as if nothing had happened. Inside the envelope were several tickets and pulling them out saw them to be V.I.P. tickets to a Shakespeare play; _‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’_. Oh, he so did love romantic comedies, and this was one of his favorite plays. “A wonderful gift, Lawless! I see that there are several tickets here?” Hugh questioned curiously.

“Uhm…well… I thought that it’d be nice to…you know…” Lawless stuttered out nervously. Hugh got his meaning well enough and puffed out proudly.

“I’ll make sure to arrange it so that we can all go,” he reassured, happy and proud that Lawless was becoming more and more like his old self again.

“Well, since Kuro and I are left, and Kuro is still trying to escape from Licht…here Hugh,” Mahiru said with one of his bright smiles as he too handed over an envelope. The Servamp of Pride opened it eagerly, and pulled out several karaoke passes.

“Oh~! These are perfect! Thank you Mahi Mahi!”

A tick mark formed on Mahiru as he replied with an, “It’s Mahiru! But…you’re welcome Hugh. I remember how much fun you had the last time we went. This seemed like a simple solution.” A presence behind him alerted Mahiru to the fact that Kuro had finally escaped from Licht. His hood was down and his hair was now a mussed mess from Licht’s cuddling, but the Sloth Servamp had managed to escape the angel’s clutches without further ‘injury’. Mahiru couldn’t help but to chuckle at his frazzled look, which earned him a mild glare from the vampire.

The eldest Servamp approached his first younger brother, handing over the small gift, but not letting go of it quite yet. The slight hesitance was enough to catch Hugh’s attention and he looked up to meet Sleepy Ash’s eyes. Curious crimson eyes met tired crimson eyes and a silent message was sent from older brother to younger brother. The moment passed too quickly to really be noticed by anyone else as Kuro let go of the gift. With Sleepy Ash’s silent message buzzing around in his mind, Hugh finally opened his last gift. His eyes lit up in childish excitement as he gazed at the new video game that his brother had given him. “Ah ha! Sleepy Ash, I accept your challenge!”

“Huh? …Challenge…?”

“That’s right! You’ve obviously given this game to me in an attempt to crush my pride with a resounding defeat!”

“Ha?” The Servamp of Sloth questioned as he scratched at his cheek. “…Didn’t think that it would cause such a reaction… …Jeez…this is such a pain…” he sighed.

“Come, Tetsu! I must train up my avatar so that I may crush Sleepy Ash later this evening!” the small Servamp exclaimed before he hopped onto his Eve’s shoulders, and waved his new game around excitedly.

“Sure buddy,” Tetsu replied before turning to the rest of the occupants in the room. “Oh yeah, you’re all welcomed to stay here for the night. Hugh insisted on having a sleep over.”

With that said, the party started to wind down, and it was agreed upon to spend the night at the hot springs. While it was noisy and a little rowdy, especially since Licht and Lawless as well as Mikuni and Jeje had decided to stay. It was late when everyone started to drift off to bed. One by one the lights in the rooms that the Servamp pairs were staying in went out, and soon all of the lights were extinguished as the day’s festivities caught up with everyone.

It was nearing three in the morning when Hugh slipped out of his and Tetsu’s shared room. He knew that Sleepy Ash had gotten his veiled message earlier about meeting late in the night, which was why he found his older brother sitting on the tatami mats in the room where the party had been held earlier. Sloth glanced up from his fame when he heard him enter before he paused and shut the game off. Whatever it was that he had wanted to say to him must have been important, otherwise he wouldn’t have wanted to meet with just the two of them.

“So, Sleepy Ash… What is it that you wanted to speak with me about?” Hugh asked once he was close enough and had sat down next to his older brother.

Kuro was silent before he reached into his jacket and pulled out another envelope. For one fleeting moment Hugh feared that it was another order from C3, but he quickly dismissed that. Sleepy Ash would not have accepted another order from them. In addition to that, this letter did not have their signature seal on the back. Sloth merely handed the envelope over to him quietly, waiting for him to take it. Hugh did so and noticed an elegant calligraphy on the front that simply said “Nii-san”. Curiosity piqued once again, Hugh turned the envelope over and opened it. Reaching in Hugh pulled out two things, a letter and a silver chain that held a bat charm and a…

“Camellia flower…” Hugh said quietly. “Tsubaki?” he questioned as he glanced up to his older brother.

“Ah… He got your message…and sought me out… …don’t think he was quite ready to jump right into the fray that is our family…”

“I see… Perhaps something on a smaller scale then,” Hugh mused to himself as he opened the letter to read it.

“…maybe…”

Hugh finished reading the letter before tucking it out of sight. “This has been one of the better celebrations that have been held for me, Sleepy Ash. I’m hoping that next year will be even better than this one,” he stated.

“…can’t make any promises…they’re rather tiring… …but…I’ll see what I can do…”

“I’ll hold you to that…Nii-san,” Hugh replied before bouncing back to his shared room. His family was starting to come together again. Thinking about it made his heart swell with pride again. His siblings had their own quirks and differences between them, but he still loved all of them…even the one that had been hidden from them until just recently.

He was proud of a lot of things; his prowess as a vampire, his intelligence network, his strength and strategic mind and all of his subclasses. However, what he was most proud of though was his family and the resilience that they showed; from his Eve’s simple nature to his new brother as he tried to mend fences to all of his siblings in between.

Yes, Hugh could say that this had been one of the best birthday celebrations that he had had in a long while. He hoped that next year topped this one by a long shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The honorifics are about the extent that I know of Japanese. I'm still not sure if they're completely correct, but it felt more right to use them then the English equivalents. If any need fixing, please let me know!


	3. Thank You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Features Mahiru and Kuro

It was extremely late at night when Kuro woke up. A quick glance at his Eve showed him that Mahiru was sleeping soundly. Perfect. He didn’t want him waking up. The immortal got up from his futon and quietly padded his way over to Mahiru’s alarm clock. Glancing at his Eve again showed the vampire Mahiru’s peacefully sleeping face. Mahiru wouldn’t be waking up any time soon. Taking this chance, Kuro quietly picked up the alarm clock and changed Mahiru’s wake up time. Mahiru would surely find a way to kill him if he ever found out he had changed the alarm time, but it was a risk that he was willing to take. Once he finished messing with the alarm, Kuro quietly placed the alarm clock back down, watching Mahiru the entire time to make sure that he didn’t show any indication of waking up. The Eve didn’t stir at all and Kuro relaxed slightly before he silently slipped out of the room and quickly found himself in the small kitchen where he flicked on the lights so then he could see better.

He usually wasn’t one to bother with things such as holidays, they were rather troublesome in his opinion. The way that people would stress out over them and generally become unpleasant was much to exhausting to put up with, so he tried his best to avoid getting caught up in holidays. He had seen many different kinds of holidays during his long, immortal life as he wandered from here to there, watching as they changed and shifted through the years. Some had managed to be so completely altered that they weren’t even recognizable to their original origins anymore. However, despite his less than unenthusiastic opinion on them, there was one that he had kind of taken a liking to recently…sort of… He had never really seen the need for this particular holiday, and the Japanese didn’t even celebrate it to begin with, but regardless, Kuro couldn’t help but to think that the thought behind this particular holiday was exactly what he needed to try and convey his, admittedly, conflicting and confusing thoughts into something that Mahiru would be able to understand.

With one last glace down the hallway to make sure that Mahiru was still sleeping, did Kuro finally start working on what he had planned. The vampire made sure to keep his work as quiet as possible as he prepared all of Mahiru’s favorite foods to place into the homemade bento. He knew that Mahiru usually made this himself in the mornings, but with the altered wake up call, the Eve wouldn’t have the time to make it. Kuro knew that Mahiru would probably only have time to make a quick breakfast before he would have to dash out the door. He had studied his Eve’s schedule thoroughly just for this after all. All it took was one little thing going wrong (or in this case, one big thing like the wrong wake up time) to upset Mahiru’s carefully laid out schedule. Kuro felt no remorse in abusing his Eve’s habits to further his own agenda. It was Mahiru’s own fault for being so predicable in the mornings.

It took Kuro longer than he had anticipated to finish making everything and to place it all carefully into the bento. He had had to stop frequently to listen to see if Mahiru was waking up, and he couldn’t use any timers to help him keep track of everything, the timers would have definitely woke his Eve up. Once he had finished packing Mahiru’s lunch up carefully did Kuro turn his attention to the pile of dishes that he now had to clean, which was a major pain. If he could have just left them, he would have, but that would definitely set Mahiru off, and he wanted to avoid that at all costs. He wanted to try and keep the altered morning routine as stress free as possible, especially since he already knew that Mahiru was going to be extremely stressed when he woke up an hour late today. The immortal slowly made his way through the dishes that had piled up, and made sure to keep them from clinking together so then there was as little noise made as possible. He even went so far as to hand dry all of the dishes and place them back where he had found them. There was no need for him to get careless when he had already come so far (and had put way more energy and effort into it than he had planned!)

With the dishes finally done Kuro glanced at Mahiru’s phone that was charging on the kitchen counter. It read 6:21 a.m., and Mahiru was supposed to have been up nearly twenty minutes ago. Kuro didn’t have much time left to get things ready, so he grabbed a slip of paper and a pen from Mahiru’s school bag. He stared at the paper for a few minutes, wondering just what he should write. There was so much that he wanted to say but he couldn’t quite find the words that he was looking for. Eventually though, the vampire settled on a message that he knew Mahiru would understand. Once he finished writing his message he folded the slip of paper before writing Mahiru’s name on the outside. He slipped the paper under the strap on the lid that held some chopsticks in place on the inside of the bento. Kuro placed the lid back on top of close Mahiru’s lunch and glanced at his Eve’s phone again to check the time. It now read 6:48 a.m., so he didn’t have much time left to get everything packed up and back into bed before Mahiru woke up. Opening Mahiru’s backpack, Kuro slipped the bento in, knowing that Mahiru wouldn’t see it until he went to grab one of his notebooks, and once he finished that, he quietly slipped back into Mahiru’s room and laid back down on his futon to pretend that he was asleep.

It was but moments later that Kuro heard the alarm go off and Mahiru reaching for it blearily. _‘Here we go…’_

“What the hell?!” the immortal heard Mahiru shout as he jumped out of bed and scrambled to get ready. “Kuro! Get up!”

Kuro groaned tired and just rolled onto his back. He really, really, just wanted to catch up on the sleep that he had missed out on. He watched sleepily as Mahiru fumbled to get his uniform on. “…Mahiru…?” he questioned, his voice thick with creeping exhaustion.

“Come on, Kuro! Get up! We’re running late!” Mahiru exclaimed as he struggled to button up his white undershirt.

Kuro yawned tiredly before sitting up to rub the sleep out of his eyes, as he did every morning. His clothes were suddenly thrown at him as his Eve hurriedly pulled his brown vest of his head. “Mahiru…slow down… We’re not that late,” the immortal yawned again after glancing at the alarm clock.

“Yes we are! I’ll barely have enough time to get breakfast done!”

“Mahiru…chill… …it’s not like this is the end of the world…” Kuro replied as he lazily slipped out of his night clothes and started to get dressed as well.

“Arrgh! Kuro! I don’t think you understand just how much I need to get done in the mornings!” Mahiru yelled back at him. “I could have sworn that I had set my alarm for six…” Mahiru sighed in aggravation before he suddenly turned to glare at Kuro. “You changed my alarm, didn’t you?!” he accused as he poked the startled vampire in the chest.

Even though Kuro was slightly panicking on the inside, he didn’t let his facial expression give anything away. “…huh…? Why would I change your alarm? You yell at me enough already… Why would I wanna hear you yell at me even more…?” Kuro defended flatly. Mahiru still didn’t look convinced so Kuro added, “Besides…I sleep through it anyways…”

That seemed to make Mahiru deflate and he stopped poking the Servamp in the chest. “Sorry Kuro… I shouldn’t have yelled at you,” he sighed before he knotted his tie. “Wait, what do you meant that I yell at you a lot?!” the Eve asked hotly as he glared at Kuro again.

“Ahh…you just did so again…” the vampire complained as he slipped on his light blue jacket. Mahiru rolled his eyes at his dramatics before hurrying to the bathroom to freshen up. Once he was gone Kuro couldn’t help but to let out an amused chuckle. Mahiru was so off his game this morning, just as he had intended it to be. And Lawless thought that he was a good actor, ha! His younger brother would be proud of the performance that he was putting on.

He heard Mahiru hurrying down the hall and into the kitchen, so Kuro took this chance to shuffle into the bathroom himself to wash his face and brush his teeth. He heard Mahiru yelling at him again to hurry up and the immortal couldn’t help but to sigh tiredly as eh finished up. Man…Mahiru was such a pain. He was moving as fast as he could.

The vampire eventually made his way into the living area where Mahiru was quickly making some toast for them. He looked so frazzled that Kuro almost felt guilty for the stunt that he had pulled. _Almost._ He had a good reason for doing what he did, even if Mahiru didn’t see it that way. He took a seat at the table, knowing that if he did anything else to try and help Mahiru would know that something was up. Soon enough both had some toast and Kuro could see Mahiru practically panicking about what to do for lunch. Mahiru had thought that he didn’t know when, exactly, his Eve made lunch for the two of them. It hadn’t been all that hard to figure out, nor had it been too draining to actually wake up a few times when Mahiru’s alarm went off to see what, exactly, his Eve did that early in the morning.

In what seemed like no time at all 7:40 a.m. rolled around and Mahiru was hurrying to finish getting ready. Kuro had made sure that he had been as demanding as possible to prevent Mahiru from grabbing anything that he could throw into his bag for lunch. He knew that he would probably pay for it later in the evening, but…he was doing his best to keep Mahiru from ruining the surprise lunch that he had made for him. It didn’t take long for the two of them to slip on their shoes and Kuro transformed into his kitten form and settled himself on top of Mahiru’s head as his Eve grabbed his backpack and hurried out the door. The vampire could tell that Mahiru was worried but he hoped that it passed soon. It was so exhausting watching him get worked up over nothing. Before long, they were approaching the school building and one of Mahiru’s friends was calling him over. Mahiru’s mood instantly lifted as he waved back enthusiastically, and caught up so that they could walk to class together.

Mahiru was soon in his first period classroom and was distractedly pulling out his supplies while also gently putting Kuro away before the teacher showed up. He hadn’t even seen the lunch that Kuro had placed in there, since his mind was currently elsewhere. “Hey, Mahiru, are you okay? You seem distracted,” Koyuki said from the seat next to him.

“What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine, Koyuki. I was just running a bit late this morning,” Mahiru reassured. He didn’t want to worry his friends.

“You seem more worried than usual for merely running late,” he heard Ryuusei say as he took the free seat next to Koyuki. “What gives?” he probed.

Mahiru sighed tiredly as he rubbed at his eyes slightly. “I didn’t have time to pack anything for lunch. I barely had enough time to make breakfast,” he groaned as he folded his arms on his desk and laid his head on them.

“Cheer up, Mahiru! We’ll share with you,” Koyuki said cheerfully.

“Yeah, no need to get so bummed out about it,” Ryuusei added.

Mahiru lifted his head up to look at his two friends. “Thanks guys,” he said as he smiled slightly at them.

Of course, Kuro had heard the entire exchange from within the bag and frowned even more. It was an unforeseen event, but he would be sure to draw Mahiru’s attention to the lunch he had made for him somehow. He would be damned if he let something as simple as Mahiru’s friends ruin an entire night’s worth of cooking and effort. He had all morning to try and figure something out, even if it was annoying and would be cutting into the time he could have been using to catch up on all of the sleep that he had missed!

The morning passed on sluggishly. Every time that Mahiru glanced up at the clock after what felt like ages he saw that only a few minutes had ticked by. While he was no longer worried about lunch, he was still trying to figure out when he had changed his alarm from six to seven. He couldn’t for the life of him remember setting it for seven, and it was bothering him to no end. Kuro was still his number one suspect for messing with it but…the vampire had made a very strong point when he said that he usually slept through the alarm anyways… He sighed, slightly annoyed that he couldn’t figure it out, but he would leave it for now. He’d confront his number one suspect when they got home and he had more time to interrogate him.

Though the morning passed on slowly the bell signaling lunch break finally rang. Like always, Ryuusei and Koyuki pushed their desks against Mahiru’s, forming a makeshift table for them to use. “We’ll be back in a minute, Mahiru!” Koyuki said cheerfully as he and Ryuusei stared toward the classroom door.

“If you guys are going to get drinks, I can come with you,” Mahiru offered as he started to stand up.

“It’s all right, Mahiru. We can get them. Besides, Kuro-chan is probably eager to get out of your bag,” Koyuki replied as he pointed to Mahiru’s slightly shifting bag.

“Oh… Right…” Mahiru said quietly as his two friends left the room. Quite honestly though, he was a bit angry and irritated with the vampire. He still highly suspected that Kuro had messed with his alarm, and even if he hadn’t, Kuro had been a major pain to deal with as he had been getting ready this morning. It was only now, since his mind was no longer worrying about what to do for lunch, that his irritation and anger had festered. But, letting Kuro go hungry through lunch was not something that he could do in good conscious. Glancing around the room showed that no one else was there, so Mahiru took this chance to get Kuro out of his bag.

Kuro squirmed slightly in his hold before looking up at him with a curious and questioning gaze. Mahiru frowned at him slightly before speaking up. “I’m not happy with you right now, Kuro. I still think that you messed with my alarm,” he said as he finally set the vampire on top of his desk.

Kuro looked back at him silently, though Mahiru could have sworn he saw a flash of hurt pass through his partner’s crimson eyes. It went by too quickly for the Eve to be sure though. The vampire sighed quietly before he suddenly shifted back to his human form, causing Mahiru to panic.

“Kuro!” he hissed at him. “Hurry and change back! Someone could walk back in at any minute!”

Kuro just gazed at Mahiru sleepily as he sat on top of his Eve’s desk. He sighed again before silencing Mahiru with a hand over his mouth. “You’re such a pain in the ass that I could just die,” he stated flatly. Mahiru sent him an angered glare, in which Kuro leveled an equally irritated look back at him. Their staring contest lasted for a moment before Mahiru tried to pry Kuro’s hand away from his mouth, causing the vampire to shoot him an unimpressed look, but he removed his hand anyways. Before Mahiru could go off on him again, Kuro slipped off the desk and knelt down next to Mahiru’s backpack.

“What are you doing, Kuro?” Mahiru asked, still irritated with the vampire but was now panicking that someone would come back into the room and see him.

Kuro was silent as he dug through his Eve’s pack and finally slipped out the bento that he had literally spent all night making. This wasn’t how he had wanted to give this to him, but this had been the only chance that he had had. He could feel Mahiru’s confused glare on him as he stood back up with the box in his slightly trembling hands. He hadn’t expected for Mahiru to become so angry with him and he was starting to doubt that he had done the right thing. Eventually the vampire turned back slightly to face Mahiru. Kuro’s expression was unreadable, but Mahiru suddenly got the feeling that he had just messed something important up. His once angry expression shifted to genuine confusion and concern when he saw Kuro’s expressionless look.

“Kuro?” Mahiru couldn’t help but to question in a soft voice. When he received no response from the immortal Mahiru knew for certain that he definitely had messed something up. He didn’t know what it was that he had done wrong, but Kuro’s lack of response to him said its own story. “…Look, Kuro…I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have been so angry with you and accused you… It’s just…you were acting strange this morning and we were running late…” the Eve tried to apologize.

Kuro sighed heavily before he silenced his Eve once again by holding out the lunch that he had made. “You really are…so troublesome…” he murmured quietly as Mahiru hesitantly look the box.

Mahiru glanced down at the box for a moment before looking back up at Kuro again only to find that the vampire had already turned away from him slightly. A noise from outside the room quickly had Kuro changing back to his kitten form and jumping into Mahiru’s pack to hide. Mahiru could only sigh quietly as he set the bento on the desk in front of him right as Koyuki and Ryuusei returned.

“Oh! So your uncle didn’t forget to give you a lunch after all!” Koyuki said with a bright smile as they came back to their seats.

Mahiru was only confused for a moment before he realized that Kuro must have altered their memories slightly. It would also explain why there had been no one else in the room for so long. While he didn’t really approve of the memory altering, Mahiru let it slide this time. It wasn’t as if Kuro had completely erased their memories. “I guess so. I probably should have checked my bag before stressing out about it,” Mahiru replied with a slightly guilty smile. He was still trying to come to terms with the fact that Kuro had packed a lunch for him. When had the vampire managed to slip it into his bag without his noticing this morning?

Koyuki and Ryuusei were soon in a deep conversation about something or other. Mahiru wasn’t paying attention as he had other things on his mind. It gave him time to try and collect his thoughts as he slowly lifted the lid off of his lunch. His eyes widened slightly as he took everything in. The bento held nothing but his favorite foods, and he could tell that everything inside had been handmade too. _‘…Did Kuro…make this for me…? This had to have taken him hours to complete…so why…?’_ Mahiru glanced up to see the inside of the lid and saw a piece of paper that had his name written on it and retrieved it from the strap gently. The handwriting was unfamiliar, yet the slightly lazy scrawl left no room for doubt on who had written it. He glanced at his friends again, and saw that they were too absorbed in their own conversation to take notice of what he was doing, so he chanced opening the note.

Even though it was a full sheet of paper, it held a surprisingly short and simple message in the middle. All that it said was _**“Thank you”**_ and next to the message was a simple drawing of Kuro’s bell on its long strap. The message was so simple…so why did seeing it bring up so many overwhelming emotions? Why did it make his heart hurt and his throat constrict with that burning pressure as he tried to keep his tears from falling?

The message was so simple…yet it somehow held all of the thoughts and emotions that Kuro had wanted to put into words but was unable to…

_‘Thank you…for putting up with me.”_

_“Thank you…for taking care of me.”_

_“Thank you…for being by my side.”_

_“Thank you…for being my light. My reason.”_

_“Thank you…for being my salvation.”_

_“…Thank you…for finding me…”_


	4. Licht's Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Features Licht, Hyde, Crantz and Guildenstern

The audience within the concert hall were on their feet, applauding loudly as tears streamed down their faces. Licht Jekylland Todoroki had just finished another wonderful and breath taking performance, and the young pianist was taking his last bow before the curtains on stage started to glide shut. He could still hear the audience applauding him, even as he mused his hair out of its slicked back performance style and started to walk backstage. He had been in his dressing room less than two minutes before the door was opened and Crantz walked in with a beaming smile on his face.

“Bravo, Licht! I have to say that this was one of your more inspiring performances. Ah, it was a beautiful rendition of those pieces.”

Licht had already finished changing by the time Crantz had finished praising him. “…Crantz, where’s the shit rat?” he asked, scowling as he did so. He had been expecting Hyde to be first to come bursting through the door with an ‘Angel-chan~! You were so cool!’ But he hadn’t seen Hyde at all during the concert, not that he had been looking for him. It was just hard to miss him when he wore his usual attire and the rest of the audience was dressed up to the nines.

“Hmm? He’s not backstage? I haven’t seen him since we arrived, and I don’t think he had any odd jobs planned for tonight,” Crantz replied, just as lost as Licht was on where the vampire could be.

“Tsk. The damn rat better not have gotten captured again,” was all that Licht had to say on the matter as he slipped on his angel backpack once again. “I’m going out,” he said as he tried to make his way past his manager.

Crantz stopped the angel before he could leave though, “Licht! You can’t go out for karaoke tonight!” he scolded.

“Why the hell not?” was the irritated question.

“It’s Christmas Eve, Licht! All of the karaoke bars have already closed for the night. Besides, today is your birthday, and I believe that your parents have already planned a party for you.”

The self-proclaimed angel blinked in surprise at that announcement. Had he really forgotten that today was December 24th? His birthday? They had just been so busy lately that things had started to blur together. It was unbecoming of an angel like him to forget such an important date. He blamed the shit rat for it. It was his fault that he had been pulled into a world of demons that needed to be purified. He’d make Hyde pay later, when he found him again and after the party was over with. “I guess karaoke can wait,” he finally conceded.

“Wonderful! Here, your parents sent over some clothes that are a bit more formal. Put these on and then we can leave,” Crantz said happily as he handed over a package.

Licht took the clothes without complaint before changing once again. “Will my parents be at the venue?” he questioned lightly.

“I believe so! They flew in from Austria to be here tonight.”

Licht hummed happily at that. It had been a while since he had seen his parents, so he was excited to see them again. “Where will we be going?” he eventually asked after he finished getting dressed.

“Oh, I believe that your parents rented out one of the hotel’s banquet halls for tonight. They were a bit disappointed that several other venues that they had looked at were already booked for this evening.”

“The venue doesn’t really matter. My parents being here is enough,” Licht replied as they made their way out of the concert hall. Hyde still hadn’t shown up, and even though Licht would never admit it, not even under the threat of death (not that an angel like him could die), he was getting slightly concerned. It was a microscopic concern for the vampire, but it was there. He didn’t want to experience the distance limit problem again, especially not with his parents here. If he even so much as felt slightly off tonight whoever had the shit rat would be the _least_ of Hyde’s problems.

Crantz smiled after him as they left. It was nice to see Licht smiling again without Hyde popping up and ruining it. Though he was more concerned about the vampire’s disappearance than Licht was, but that was mainly because he didn’t want another abduction to deal with. “Do you want me to try calling Lawless, Licht?” Crantz asked as they continued to walk back to the hotel. It wasn’t all that far from the concert hall so there had been no need to rent a car.

“Tsk. Do whatever the hell you want. I don’t give a damn about the stupid shit rat. He can go and die for all I care,” was Licht’s response.

That was pretty much a ‘Yes, please call him. I’m worried about him but I’m too stubborn to call myself.’ With that answered Crantz pulled out his phone and dialed Hyde’s number. The phone rang for a few seconds before Crantz went to Hyde’s voice mail. He sighed wearily before hanging up. “It went to his voice mail,” the manager informed Licht. It was slight but Crantz did see Licht’s arms tense up slightly as he clenched his hands into fists. “I’m sure that he’s fine, Licht. If anything, I bet that he’s running around to get last minute Christmas presents,” he reassured.

The self-proclaimed angel just ‘harrumphed’ unhappily, obviously upset with Hyde’s sudden disappearance. “I’ll kill the damn rat myself when he turns back up.” Decision on the matter made, the two finally reached the hotel where Licht’s parents were waiting for him. A small smile graced his lips when he spotted them and he hurried his way over to them.

“Licht!” his mother called before embracing him in a tight hug. “My little angel~ Mommy’s so proud of you~!” she gushed before placing a kiss on his cheek. Licht blushed slightly but was still incredibly happy about seeing his mom and dad to really care. Plus, he liked it when his mother showered him with affection. It went to show him that even though they didn’t get to spend as much time together as they would like, his parents would always love him. His father clapped him on the back once his mother had released him, showing Licht his own kind of silent support and love.

“Come on, son. Your mother has the entire room decorated just for you,” his father said as he was steered into the rented banquet hall.

His mother had really gone all out for his this year. The entire hall was decorated with balloons and streamers, and all of the center pieces on the tables where either angel or music related motifs. His eyes lit up when he saw that a karaoke machine had been rented out for the evening. A small section of the hall had been portioned off as a dance floor where music was already playing in the background. A long table that had been pushed up against one of the walls was laden with some of his favorite foods as well as a large birthday cake that read, ‘Happy Birthday Licht!’

The hall was also already filled with people, mostly acquaintances of his and his parents that were in the area, though a quick scan around the room confirmed that Hyde was not here. He was slightly put out and hurt that the idiot hedgehog hadn’t even wished him a happy birthday, nor was anywhere to be seen to celebrate it. Licht quickly shook those thoughts from his mind. He was _**not**_ going to let that idiot ruin his birthday party with his parents. It wasn’t like he wanted him to be anywhere near his parents in the first place.

It wasn’t long before the party was in full swing. Licht had made his rounds through the guests that had been invited and had thanked each one of them for attending. With that over with, Licht found himself enjoying the party. Another glance around the room showed that his mother had somehow managed to convince his father to dance with her and there was a small queue at the karaoke machine, but other than that, everyone looked to be having fun. He hadn’t been able to enjoy himself like this in a while. There was no bickering, no dodging blows, and most importantly, no annoying shit rat hanging off of him. However, a glance at the clock showed that the six hour mark was swiftly approaching and he couldn’t help but to grow a little anxious. A worried look from Crantz told Licht that he too was growing concerned with Hyde’s continued absence. A few tense minutes later and the six hour mark came and went leaving Licht as perfectly healthy as before. He scowled slightly since that meant that the shit rat was obviously nearby. A glance around the room once again showed that Hyde’s familiar head of two toned hair was nowhere to be seen. Licht even made sure to scan the floor, just in case he was in his animal form, but there was no sign that the hedgehog was in the room.

A flash of familiar orange from outside the hall caught Licht’s attention and his gaze quickly zeroed in on it. Licht’s icy blue eyes locked with Hyde’s searing crimson and he couldn’t help but to scowl slightly at the vampire. He spotted a small white box that was in Hyde’s hand and it piqued his curiosity slightly. What the hell had the shit rat been doing all of this time? He watched as Hyde’s expression changed from startled confusion to unreadable and eventually to…hurt? Hyde broke eye contact first as he turned on his heel and continued walking toward where the elevators were located. It was only after he saw Hyde’s black scarf round the corner that he noticed that Gil had been with him. Now he was burning with curiosity as to what the two of them had been up to but as much as he wanted to follow and confront the shitty hedgehog, he could not in good conscious leave the party that his parents had thrown for him. He would wait until his parents had left and the party had ended before he went and kicked some answers out of the vampire.

With his mind resolved to confront Hyde later, Licht went back to spending time with his parents. It would be a while before he would get to see them again as they would be leaving to go on their own tours soon. However, try as he might, Licht could not get the look that he had seen on Hyde’s face out of his mind. He was _**not,**_ going to let that shitty hedgehog ruin the rest of his night. He did not care one bit that Hyde’s expression had started to turn from confusion to hurt before he had turned and rounded the corner towards the elevator.

It was nearing 10:30 p.m. when the party finally ended. His parents had to leave soon to catch a midnight flight back to Austria and the rest of the guests had already filtered out to return to their own families. Licht made sure to bid all of his guests’ farewell as they left before spending a few extra minutes with his parents. They were disappointed that they were not going to be able to spend Christmas with him as well, but Licht reassured them that he didn’t mind and that he was glad to have seen them for his birthday. With tearful hugs from his mother as she told him to continue being an angel and the rare hug from his father with a reminder to remain strong, Licht finally bid his parents farewell. Once they were out of sight was Licht finally able to turn his thoughts to Hyde and whatever scheme the vampire was obviously up to. Crantz had already retired for the night, having left earlier to give Licht some time and privacy with his parents. 

The elevator ride up to their floor was short and he quickly made his way towards Hyde’s room. “Shit rat! Open up the damn door!” he demanded as he pounded against it. He received no response which only furthered angered Licht before he tried again. Thankfully Crantz had managed to get them a suite on a floor with no other guests so he was disturbing no one. “Hyde! Open the damn door!” he growled out in frustration. The door remained closed which irritated Licht to no end. He did not have Hyde’s card key and Crantz was the only one with everyone’s spare. There was no way that Crantz was going to open Hyde’s door for him. Licht glared at the closed door in front of him for a minute or two before he spun around and went to his own room. Hyde couldn’t avoid him forever. 

It didn’t take him long to enter his room and it took even less time for him to sense that Hyde was inside. “What the hell are you doing in here, shit rat?” He saw Hyde spin around from whatever he had been doing, eyes wide from surprise, but there was no answer or quote with coming. It was still dark in the room as Licht had not had a chance to flick the lights on. 

“O-Oh! Angel-chan! I was just-!” 

Licht glared at the vampire before finally flicking on the lights to angrily make his way toward Hyde. He had only taken two steps before he noticed everything. Some of it was already thrown into a small box at Hyde’s feet, but most of the room was still decorated. There were balloons tied to the back of all of the kitchen chairs that had been provided while others were tied into bundles and held down with weights and were scattered around the room. The table itself had a small assortment of different melons as well as the small white box he had seen Hyde carrying earlier. Behind Hyde was a banner that read ‘Happy Birthday Licht-tan~!’ Hyde was just in front of it and the half full box of decorations made a little more sense. “The hell is this, shit rat?” 

Licht watched as something akin to hurt flash through Hyde’s eyes before it was quickly covered up by the vampire’s usual bravado. “What’s it look like, Angel-chan? I was going to throw a little birthday party for the birthday angel, but it seems that it was already covered,” the vampire replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders as he shook his head slightly. 

“Stupid Hyde,” Licht said before continuing, “Is this why you couldn’t be found after the concert?” 

Hyde glared at him mildly with a slight pout. “Licht-tan’s the stupid one! You told me that the concert would end when it normally does! If you had wanted me out of the way so then your parents wouldn’t see me then you should have just said so!” 

It was at this point that Licht realized that Hyde was genuinely hurt with his accidental misdirection. He had forgotten that today was Christmas Eve not realizing that his performance would be shown at an earlier time than usual. So he had snapped at Hyde earlier when the vampire had come asking, telling him that it was the usual time without thinking, called him an idiot and then proceeded to slam the door in his face. That had been the last time that he had seen Hyde until the vampire had returned to the hotel later this evening. However, he was an angel, and angels didn’t make mistakes…nor did they apologize to demons for telling them the wrong time to concerts. So instead, he asked Hyde a question, “Where did you go during the concert?" 

Hyde frowned at him before shoving his hands into his pockets and looked away from him. “…I spent the first part here, getting the room ready…” the vampire eventually grumbled out after Licht glared at him. 

“And after?" 

Hyde pointedly did no look at him before waving vaguely over to the small table that held melons and the small white box. Curiosity slightly piqued again, Licht made his way over to the table before opening said white box. Inside was a small, round chocolate cake. The chocolate frosting had obviously been frosted by hand and piped in white was another ‘Happy Birthday Licht-tan~!’ As he stared at the simple chocolate cake in his hands did he turn to face Hyde once more. The vampire was trying to not look interested in his expression, but it was plain to see that Hyde was waiting to see how he would react. 

“Did you make this for me, Hyde?” Licht asked evenly. He watched as Hyde gained a light blush before muttering something under his breath. “What was that, shit rat?” he demanded. 

Hyde glared at him slightly before responding, “I only frosted it, okay?! I don’t know the first thing about cooking let alone baking!” he exclaimed before quietly adding on, “…I went to nii-san’s and his house wife Eve’s apartment for help with making the cake.” 

Licht watched Hyde for a moment as the Servamp scuffed his foot against the floor. Hyde had definitely went out of his way for this, and even though Hyde _**was**_ a demon, as an angel it was his duty to acknowledge the fact that Hyde was trying. “Hmph, why are you taking the decorations down, you damn rat?” he asked, which caused Hyde to stare at him for a moment before the Servamp broke out into a huge grin. 

Licht had just turned and placed the small cake back on the table when he felt Hyde barrel into him and hug him tightly, which caused him to grow irritated. “Lil Angel’s the best!” 

“Stupid rat. I’m not doing this for you,” he scowled slightly before shrugging the vampire off of him. “I’m celebrating the effort that you put into this. Why? Because, I’m an angel~” Licht replied as he struck his purifying angel pose. 

“That’s right! He’s an out of this world lil angel!” Hyde continued as he got caught up in their little performance. 

“Die!” Licht replied irritably as he tried to kick Hyde away from him. The Servamp merely laughed and moved out of the way. 

“Licht-tan~ I’m glad that you don’t mind celebrating your birthday with us ‘demons’,” Hyde suddenly said as he motioned over to where his subclass Gil was standing uncertainly in the door frame. 

“Yo Lawless, Licht,” Guildenstern greeted with a slight wave. Since Lawless was waving him in he entered Licht’s room. It didn’t take him long before he was in front of the angel that was able to keep Lawless in line. “Happy Birthday, kid,” he said before handing over a small wrapped gift. 

Licht still wasn’t used to seeing Gil outside of the whale costume, but the few times that he had seen him without it on the subclass had always been polite to him. His manner of speaking may have been a bit gruff, but his manners were always considerate. He was completely opposite to Hyde, so Licht was always left wondering just how Gil came to be Hyde’s subclass in the first place. Licht took the offered gift regardless and opened it a moment later. Inside the package was a black cat plush that was extra soft to the touch and extra squishable for cuddles. Licht’s eyes were wide and held a childish look of absolute wonder as he cuddled with it immediately. 

“Ah, I’m glad that ya like it, kid. I figured that since you like the twit’s-“ 

“Hey! Gil! I’m your master! You shouldn’t-“ 

“-older brother’s form, you’d like this,” Gil continued as if Hyde hadn’t interrupted him. 

“Thanks, Guildenstern,” Licht replied. “Hmm…I already have Michael…and Neko-san is already Neko-san… Ah! Nikolas,” Licht decided with a nod. 

Hyde sighed heavily at Licht’s non-existent naming scheme but knew better than to bring it up. There would be no way to change his mind once he had decided on something. “Licht-tan~ Licht-tan~! Here! Open my gift now~” 

Licht frowned slightly before taking the long, thin package from Hyde. Unwrapping it showed a thin white box and upon lifting the lid a delicate looking chain laid inside. His eyes followed the chain down and rested on the tag. It wasn’t a dog tag, like Hyde’s, but rather the tag had been shaped into the image of a wing. Etched into the tag was his name. Licht wasn’t quite sure how to feel when he saw it. On the one hand, it was Hyde that had given it to him, but on the other hand, Hyde obviously knew him well enough to know that he would appreciate a gift like this. 

“Well~? What’d you think Licht-tan~? Now we match!” 

“Hmph. Did you engrave this yourself?” he asked instead. 

“Yep! Angel-chan engraved my item with my name, so I wanted to show just how much Angel-chan means to me too!” Hyde replied with his usual grin. 

Though he hid it well, Licht was still able to tell that Hyde was nervous about how he would receive the gift. “Hmm…you did well, Hyde,” he eventually stated as he put the chain on. As soon as he had the chain clasped again did Hyde throw himself onto him again. 

“My lil Angel is sooooo cooooool! He’s the best lil angel that this would has ever seen!” 

“Shut up and die!” 

Before a fight could break out, Guildenstern separated the two. “Quit bein’ a brat, Lawless and instead get us some of that cake,” the subclass ordered. Hyde pouted and glared at Gil for a moment before giving in. Today was supposed to be about his Angel and he had kind of, sort of, promised Gil that he wouldn’t antagonize Licht _too_ much today. 

It didn’t take Hyde long to return with cake for the three of them. The chocolate cake was sinfully divine and Hyde made a mental note to get his big brother to make it again. “How’s the cake, Angel-chan~?” he eventually asked as he saw Licht enjoying his cake with a look of heavenly delight. 

“This tastes like I’m walking through the heavens as the stars light a path to a star fall of paradise,” was Licht’s reply. 

“Whoa-ho! That’s some high praise coming from you, Licht-tan! I’ll be sure to tell nii-san that you thought it was divine~” 

“Hey Lawless, what kind of cake is this anyways? It’s too complex to be a simple chocolate cake,” Gil asked as he started on his second piece. 

“Huh? Oh! It’s Devil’s Food Cake!” 

There was a slight choking sound heard from Licht as the pianist glared sharply at Hyde. The Servamp was ignoring said glare as he continued to eat his own slice of cake, though Guildenstern was sure that Hyde had timed that revelation to coincide with Licht taking another bite. Gil glanced at the digital clock that was in the kitchen and saw that it read 12:17 a.m... Technically it was no longer Licht’s birthday but… He glanced at the two again, and seeing Lawless’ cocky smirk and Licht’s glare that promised a world of pain, he sighed quietly. 

Thankfully though, the cake was too tempting to be wasted, and the self-proclaimed angel continued to eat it, though Gil was certain that he heard Licht mumble something about purifying demons later. 


	5. Kuro's Birthday

Author’s Note: Hey everyone! I want to thank all of those that have followed, faved, or have left a review! This has taken me much, much longer than I had anticipated and I am glad to see that all of you have been patiently waiting for me to update. I will also say now that I am trying to work on Fragile Bonds but it’s been slow going and I have to juggle writing in between work and my summer courses and regular school semester course work as well. This chapter was meant to be done and up for Kuro’s birthday…2 birthday ago. Well, better late than never, right? Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this one shot!

Kuro’s Birthday  
Kuro and Mahiru  
The snow was falling thickly outside Mahiru’s apartment. Just about everything had been covered in a blanket of glistening white, making the high rises and sky scrapers appear much more whimsical and fantasy-like rather than the modern harsh, hard edges that those buildings had. They wind was howling sporadically, turning the gently falling snow into dangerous little daggers that stung the face and any other exposed flesh. Just watching it made Kuro shiver slightly as he pulled his blanket tighter around himself. Truthfully though, he was thankful for the turn in the weather as Mahiru had had plans to go out tonight. However, with the weather as it was a winter storm warning had went into effect, thus preventing Mahiru, and in turn himself, from being able to go out to meet up with the other Eves and Servamps. Needless to say, Mahiru wasn’t in the best of moods as he had been looking forward to ringing in the New Year with everyone. Kuro on the other hand, was quite pleased and content with this turn of events. It was the perfect was to spend one’s birthday, not that anyone knew that today was his birthday. He had never said anything and no one had ever really asked, which was fine with him.

It was Mahiru flopping heavily onto the couch beside him that alerted Kuro that his Eve was still unhappy with being forced to stay indoors. He should probably say something or suggest…something, anything really, to take Mahiru’s mind off of his ruined plans.

“Sorry Kuro,” Mahiru suddenly apologized causing the immortal to look over to his Eve in surprise.

“…What’re you apologizing to me for? You certainly haven’t done anything troublesome…”

Mahiru sighed heavily as he leaned back further onto the couch. “I was really looking forward to tonight, but when the weather became bad I let it affect me too. I was kind of a jerk to you earlier today…and I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken my bad mood out on you.”

Hearing that caused Kuro think back to earlier, had Mahiru been a jerk to him? He pondered it for a moment, but all that he could think of was Mahiru scolding him for dragging all of the blankets and pillows out into the living room to bundle up in. And even then he had pretty much ignored his Eve and continued to build up a nice pillow and blanket fort. Well, he had, until Mahiru frowned at him, told him to act his age, and then proceeded to destroy said fort and took most of the blankets and pillows back. Was that what he was apologizing for? Possibly, but it really hadn’t bothered Kuro as much as it seemed to be bothering Mahiru. The vampire shrugged slightly before replying, “It’s fine. It didn’t really bother me.”

“Are you sure, Kuro? You had a rather distant look on your face just now,” Mahiru said worriedly. 

Kuro sighed heavily to himself, “I said that it was fine. Why are you being so bothersome all of a sudden?”

Mahiru huffed in irritation before shoving Kuro over slightly, causing the cocooned vampire to fall over onto his side slightly.

“So abusive…” Kuro said quietly with a hint of amusement in his tone.

“Ugh! You’re impossible!” Mahiru exclaimed. He sighed tiredly before pulling his lazy vampire back up into a sitting position. “Seriously, Kuro…what’s on your mind? I don’t think that I’ve seen such a somber and detached look on your face before,” Mahiru finished worriedly, all traces of his earlier frustration and bad mood gone.

Kuro leaned back against the couch but didn’t reply immediately. He had never really celebrated his birthday before, and he saw no point in starting now. “It’s nothing to worry about Mahiru. …was just thinking was all,” the vampire tried to reassure. From the look that he could see Mahiru giving him he knew that his Eve wasn’t reassured in the slightest.

“Please tell me, Kuro? If it’s anything that I can help with I want to know,” the Eve pushed, wanting to know why Kuro had such a look on his face.

Kuro sighed again before further slouching on the couch. “I was just thinking, Mahiru…” he repeated before glancing out of the window once again. The snow hadn’t let up at all and in fact looked to be falling in even harder droves. “…it’s…nice…”

Mahiru blinked in confusion. “Huh? What’s nice, Kuro?”

The vampire shrugged slightly before indicating the thickly falling snow. “…being like this… …it’s…peaceful… We’re always doing something… It’s nice to take some time for just ourselves… …Especially today…” he added quietly.

Mahiru sighed quietly as he relaxed further. Kuro did have a point. They were always busy doing something or other. But why did Kuro think that today was the perfect day to laze around? He usually did that anyways, so what made today so special? It wasn’t like today was the first time that it had snowed and it had been rather cold for weeks now… The young Eve glanced over to the Servamp again and saw that Kuro’s attention was once again on the falling snow. Mahiru frowned slightly as he got the feeling that Kuro would not be forthcoming with any more information. The Servamp of Sloth could be so…strange sometimes. However, he could tell that Kuro would not be moving for some time. He looked peaceful and relaxed and while Mahiru wanted to be up and active and doing something, perhaps today he could let himself just laze around as well.

It wasn’t long before Kuro noticed Mahiru’s restless shifting and he sighed quietly. He was utterly convinced that his Eve did not know the meaning of the word ‘relax’, and that was the one thing that he wanted to do, especially today. But first, he needed to either get Mahiru to do the same (which he had a slim chance of doing) or try to get Mahiru to do something to keep him occupied (in which he had an equally slim chance of achieving). He sighed quietly again before catching Mahiru’s attention and once his Eve was looking at him did he try to pitch his idea.

“…Mahiru…why don’t… we just throw a party here…?” Kuro didn’t know why the first thing he suggested was to throw a small party, as it sounded like a lot of work, but he knew that Mahiru had been looking forward to tonight.

“That’s…actually not a bad idea, Kuro!” the Eve exclaimed once it had sunken in. Why hadn’t he thought of that? “But wait…are you sure about this, Kuro? You weren’t all that enthusiastic about going out to party earlier.”

“…its fine,” Kuro replied tiredly. In all honesty though he just wanted to sleep, but Mahiru was being too obvious with wanting to do something for that to happen.

“Thanks Kuro. It means a lot to me that you’re willing to do something with me today. Why don’t you choose what kind of cake I should make.”

“…cookies n’ cream~”

“That’s not a cake flavor!”

“…it is if you make an ice cream cake~”

Mahiru gave an irritated sigh and frowned as he glanced at Kuro. The vampire was looking back at him expectantly which caused him to give in. “Fine. I’ll make an ice cream cake.”

“Yay~”

“But while I’m doing that you should get the living room set up. It can’t be a party with just cake!”

“Ugh, that sounds bothersome,” he complained.

“Just do it, you lazy vampire,” Mahiru scolded with a slight frown.

Kuro sighed heavily but slowly stood up regardless. He knew that Mahiru would just needle him until he got up anyways. What was he going to do though…? Mahiru didn’t specifically say what he wanted so… Pillow fort v2 it was. Besides, today was his birthday…not only that, but it was also a perfect day to make a pillow fort.

While Mahiru was busy and distracted in the kitchen, Kuro slunk off to the bed rooms to gather the supplies that he would need. For maximum comfort something super soft would be needed to act as the base. He was pretty sure that Mahiru would not be pleased with him if he dragged his mattress out and into the living room, so he settled for the next best thing; the futons that he knew Mahiru had stored away in the closet. However, it would be a pain to make multiple trips and he would rather “keep things simple” as Mahiru would say and make as few trips as possible. 

It didn’t take long for Kuro to gather up the futons and blankets, the pillows would have to be a second trip, and take them out to the living room. The pillows didn’t take too long to bring out either. He knew Mahiru was watching, probably with a frown (especially when he easily lifted the couch up to put it against the back wall) before he set out to get everything ready. The futons were placed in the middle of the room, and the kitchen table chairs were quickly stolen to form the edges. A wooden pole that he had found in Mahiru’s room from some sort of school project was going to be used to keep the “tent” from falling in on them and the sheets were tired together to create one giant ‘canvas’ to cover it all. Once that had been finished, Kuro stuffed the remaining fluffy blankets and pillows into the fort for maximum comfort. 

He heard Mahiru sigh, whether in annoyance or defeat Kuro couldn’t tell, before his Eve came into the living room as well. “Kuro…I thought you were going to decorate for a party…”

“I did…” Kuro replied.

“No you didn’t! You just made another fort!” Mahiru exclaimed.

“I decorated for a sleep over party…” Kuro defended.

“…a…sleep over party…” he heard Mahiru say in disbelief. 

“…technically that’s a kind of party, Mahiru…” Kuro reminded him

He heard Mahiru make some kind of noise of disagreement, but he could tell that his Eve was not going to fight him on this. He probably still felt bad for destroying the first one.

“Okay, what else do we need for a party?” Mahiru asked. They didn’t have much in the way of games that they could both play. 

“Do you know any card games…?” Kuro asked. Before video games became a thing card games were something that he played often.

“I only know how to play Go-Fish, Old Maid, and Crazy Eights…” Mahiru admitted quietly. He knew Kuro wasn’t asking about those kind of card games, but those were all that he knew from his childhood.

“…Not bad… I…can teach you some others…? If you’d like…?” Kuro questioned uncertainly.

Mahiru smiled brightly at him. “I’d like that Kuro. Maybe after the storm dies down in a few days we could have a game night with the others! That’d be fun!”

“Ugh, that sounds like trouble…” he responded. He smirked slightly when he saw Mahiru’s look, but he knew that he wouldn’t actually mind playing cards again with his siblings.

“What else should we do? Movies?”

“Nah… Not in the mood to watch movies… That’ll put me to sleep quickly… …On second thought, let’s watch movies. All day.”

Mahiru’s bright laughter met his ears and he knew then that his Eve was no longer disappointed about missing out on celebrating the New Year with everyone else.

“I guess we could also play some video games,” Mahiru suggested. “…I actually got you something for New Year’s, even though Christmas just ended…”

Kuro blinked in surprise when he heard that. He knew that traditionally Japan celebrated New Year’s as if it were the equivalent to Christmas in the west. He had gotten something for Mahiru too, but he had planned on giving it to him tomorrow.

“It was going to be fore later, but today is as good a day as any during the New Year to give it to you! I’ll be right back, Kuro!”

Mahiru was gone before Kuro could even say anything to stop him. He sighed heavily before stretching out. He may as well retrieve Mahiru’s New Year’s gift before he came back… He wandered into the kitchen and opened the highest cabinet that was in there. It was one that Mahiru rarely used or opened and after shifting things around a bit he grabbed the wrapped parcel from the highest shelf before raking it out and closing the cabinet again. He made it back into the living room before Mahiru returned, which was surprising considering Mahiru had a head start. A moment later Mahiru reappeared and smiled at him again.  
“Here Kuro! I hope you like it,” Mahiru said brightly while waiting for Kuro to take the gift.

“Ahh…you’re so troublesome… …You…didn’t have to get me anything…”

“Says the guy holding a gift for me!” Mahiru countered hotly.

Kuro just shrugged slightly before taking the gift that Mahiru was holding out to him. He swapped it for the one that he had been holding so then Mahiru wouldn’t be able to fight with him over it.

“Well go on! Open it Kuro!” Mahiru urged excitedly.

Kuro carefully unwrapped the obvious game that Mahiru had gotten for him. On top of the game was a homemade coupon that read “One get out of chores free card”. Mahiru must have remembered the “Christmas List” he had written out partly as a joke and partly seriously. He couldn’t help but to smile slightly when he saw it. That would have been enough of a gift for him right there. Moving the coupon away he saw another copy for Splateam 2. He glanced up at Mahiru when he fully took that in. This was still a pretty expensive game.

“Mahiru…you didn’t…have to get me this…” he eventually managed to get out.

Mahiru just smiled at him. “I saw how much you were eying it in the store, Kuro,” was his reply. 

“Yeah but…your uncle already got you a copy of this game…”

His Eve laughed lightly. “Kuro…it was completely a coincidence that my uncle got me the Tsuwitch and that game when we had already planned and had saved up for months to buy the system and game for ourselves as our Christmas gift. Now we can both play together!”

He knew that Mahiru was right but still…this was an expensive game and they had saved for months just to buy the system and the other game they had gotten.

“Kuro, I got you the game because I knew that you’d enjoy it. Now we can play and enjoy it together. And as a team too!”

Kuro couldn’t help but to give a slight huff of laughter at that. It was like Mahiru’s uncle had known exactly what to get for his nephew. “We’ll have to get you set up later on then, Mahiru.” Mahiru’s smile was bright once again. It would be nice to do more things with his Eve other than to fight (bad guys and over who had to do what chores) and lounge around while Mahiru worked on homework or other school projects.

“Well…go on…open yours, Mahiru…” Kuro prompted.

Mahiru’s smile widened a bit before he tore into the gift. The white box that held the gift was soon opened and Mahiru lifted out a very high quality hoodie. “Wow Kuro, I haven’t seen or felt clothes like this before… Where’d you get them?” he asked after he felt the material. It was soft and plush but he could tell that it wouldn’t be overly warm or stifling. It kind of reminded him of Kuro’s jacket, but instead of a light blue it was black. A flash of light blue did catch his attention though. It was on the bottom from of the hoodie. Taking a closer look, Mahiru saw that the blue patch was actually a stitched version of inner Kuro. The hood even had “cat ear points” now that he looked at it closer. “Kuro…?” he questioned again curiously.

“…I had it…and the shirt that you missed…made for you…” Kuro eventually replied. “…I…asked my inner self to…weave a small portion of our power into them… …They’ll protect you better than your normal clothes…and if I am not there beside you for some reason…”

It took a moment for that to sink in for Mahiru. This hoodie, and the similar black tee shirt that he now noticed still in the box, had a part of Kuro’s power in them. To protect him. Once it registered though he quickly slipped the hoodie on and felt…safer, as if Kuro was right beside him instead of in front of him, watching him expectantly. The feeling settled and he smiled brightly at his Servamp. “Thank you so much Kuro! This…this means a lot to me.”

Kuro had been a little uncertain about the gift but he was glad that Mahiru liked them. They weren’t anything like his jacket that he could use to fight with, but they would afford some more protection, in case they were separated. 

“Come on Kuro! Let’s get the second system set up so we can play it later! I think I recall making an ice cream cake and being taught how to play cards too.”

While Mahiru got the second system out, Kuro went and retrieved the other television that Mahiru’s uncle had gotten him as well to be placed in Mahiru’s room.  
‘For when you’re sick and can’t really move or for when your friends come over to play!’ his uncle had stated when Mahiru had sputtered at getting so many expensive gifts. Well, at least it was going to be put to good use now…

The rest of the evening was spent inside the pillow fort that Kuro had constructed as they played cards, ate ice cream cake and proceeded to play games together. It wasn’t until Mahiru’s phone went off, startling the both of them from the intense match they had been in, that they remembered that it was now a New Year. Once greetings and well wishes had finally died down did the two of them start to feel the exhaustion from today start to creep up on them. Mahiru had wanted to sleep in his bed but Kuro managed to persuade him to just stay out in the pillow fort for the night. “Why waste a perfectly good fort?” had been his question, followed by a “The simplest thing to do would be to just sleep out here.” It didn’t take much to convince Mahiru and it wasn’t long before his Eve was fast asleep.

Kuro decided to stay awake for a little while longer. The living room was mostly dark, save for the small hallway light that came on at night to keep them from stubbing their toes in the darkness. He looked outside once again and watched as the thick snow continued to fall and pile up on the balcony. He highly doubted that they’d be able to go anywhere tomorrow either…but that was all right. He wouldn’t mind spending another day like this… He glanced over at Mahiru when he felt him cuddle into his side as he slept. He couldn’t help but to smile softly.

“Thank you, Mahiru…for giving me one of the best birthdays I’ve ever experienced…”

Author’s Note: I’m glad that I was finally able to get this chapter out! It’s been a long time coming. I really enjoyed writing it and it did go in a completely different direction than I had imagined. I did some research on how Japan celebrates Christmas and New Year’s, so I hope I was able to keep in the spirit of things. I took some liberty with the clothes that Kuro gave to Mahiru. I’m still fascinated and curious as to how they work as weapons and such. I can only assume that they’ve been infused with some of their power or something like that. I hope that it’s explained later on in the manga, as I would like to know just how it works. Until next time! If you enjoyed this one shot, please leave a review or fav! They really mean a lot to me!


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